In 1665, in the stillness of the mist-covered morning, the sails of the tall ship rose on the horizon as it sailed into the waters of the Colony of New France. In its hold was precious cargo. The voices of the crew drifted on the damp air breaking the silence that surrounded the settlement of Stadacona ( Quebec City).
At once the cargo doors were thrown open, horses were brought up on deck and driven overboard to swim for shore. This gift from King Louis XIV, for the settlers of New France was to arrive wet, wide eyed and exhausted from a long voyage across the Atlantic. As the first horse struggled ashore it raced up and down the beach calling to its companions.
Those first prints in the sand were the beginning of an epic journey, a journey that became legend, the legend of the Canadian Horse. Surviving the journey from France was the first of many hardships for the Canadian Horse.
The first set-back came after the British captured Quebec in 1759. Settlers began moving west to Manitoba and South into the United States taking their horses with them. Their numbers dwindled. The Canadian Horse's reputation as a cavalry horse further threatened its numbers. Many were shipped to the Civil War between 1861 and 1865 and later hundreds sailed for the Boer War in South Africa, 1899 to 1902, and also to Europe to fight in World War I, 1914 to 1918. By the late 1930's and early 1940's horses began to lose their importance with the arrival of the tractor and the automobile.
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